Locked inside the Jehovah's Witnesses world headquarters are secret files detailing sexual abuse by members of the religious denomination. Some of those files are slowly coming to light thanks to a grand jury investigation by state Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro's office that was spurred by The Inquirer.
With Shapiro scheduled to be sworn in as Pennsylvania's 48th governor on Jan. 17, hopefully the investigation will continue at full steam. Shapiro has been fearless in taking on influential religious institutions, starting with a 2018 grand jury report of the Roman Catholic Church that detailed decades of sexual abuse by more than 300 priests in Pennsylvania.
The Catholic Church has faced perhaps the most intense scrutiny for the widespread sexual abuse across the country, around the world and leading straight to the Vatican. But in the 20 years since the abuse and systematic cover-ups were first uncovered, it is painfully clear the Catholic Church doesn't hold a monopoly on these horrific crimes.
